Physicals for student athletes just weren’t cutting it, so a Cypress family took action.
Over 95% of heart conditions can’t be detected with a just a stethoscope. “It doesn’t matter how well you do a physical, the process just isn’t enough. It needs to include an electrocardiogram,” says Mary DeBauche.
Mary DeBauche is the director of operations for Cypress ECG Project. The nonprofit was founded by Mary’s father, Dr. Tom DeBauche, of Cypress Cardiology. Dr. DeBauche started volunteering to provide ECGs for student athletes at Cy-Fair High School when his children attended the school. Over time, he began to realize that this was an extremely important service that he wanted to make available to more students. Shortly after, Cypress ECG Project was founded.
Cypress ECG Project now provides services to over 40,000 student athletes in 3 states (Texas, Louisiana and Washington) every year.
"Cardiac arrest is the number one cause of death for student athletes, if we can find the cause, that's key. This is saving lives," Mary DeBauche explained.
Just this year, the ECG scans provided by Cypress ECG Project saved the lives of two Cy-Fair ISD student athletes. Sophomores Shayli Christensen (Cy-Fair High School) and Mauricio Hernandez (Langham Creek) were both diagnosed with atrial septal defects – holes in their hearts. Thanks to the ECG screenings they received, both Christensen and Hernandez have recovered from open-heart surgeries this past school year.
Thanks to the work of the DeBauches and their nonprofit, students are receiving more effective physicals and lives are being saved.
Find out more about what Cypress ECG Project is doing to protect young students.
